Greek Mythology Midterm #2
Narratives
Perseus
Perseus = son of Zeus and Princess Danae
his grandfather King Acrisius tries to drown him so he can’t overthrow him.
Defeats Gorgon Medusa and uses her decapitated head as a weapon
Linked strongly hubris, imprisoned maiden, infant survival
Heracles
Heracles = Son of Zeus and Alcmene
peak masculine hero, embodiment of strength/power.sexual potency.
One of the few Greek mythical characters to be transformed from a mortal man into a god.
Labors of Hercules
Slayed the Nemean Lion (invulnerable lion terrorizing Nemea)
Slayed the Hydra
Captured the Ceryneain Hind (sacred deer of Artemis)
Captured the Erymanthian Boar
Slay the Stymphalian Birds (man eating birds)
Clean Augean Stables
Capture the Cretan Bull
Steal the Mares of Diomedes (man eating horses)
Take the Girdle of Hippolyta
Capture the Cattle of Geryon
Steal the Golden Apples of the Hesperides (Hera’s garden guarded by a dragon)
Capture Cerberus (bring to WOL without weapons)
Oedipus
Oedipus = son of Laius and Jocasta
Known for his tragic fate of killing his father and marrying his mother
Ultimately symbolizes the themes of fate, free will, and the quest for truth.
co-opted by Freud
Jason
Jason = son of Aeson, rightful King of Lolcus. associated with betryal, revenge, heroism, and hubris.
his uncle Pelias seizes the throne and his mother sends him to be raised by Chiron to protect him
when he’s older, he returns to claim his throne and Pelias gives him the impossible task of retrieving the Golden Fleece hoping he would die.
Jason assembles the Argonauts to retrieve the fleece
Harpies = winged monsters
Clashing Rocks
Sirens are defeated by = Orpheus’ music
King of Colchis agreed to give Jason the fleee is he completes three trials
yoke the fire breathing oxen and plow a field
sow dragons teeth (which sprouted into skeletons which battle royal-ed and the last standing joined Argonauts)
defeat the sleepless dragon gaurding the fleece
King’s daughter Medea falls in love with him and helps him with her sorcery
they are exiled together but he dumps her for a princess
Medea seeks revenge by killing his new wife and all their children together
he dies alone and miserable, crushed by the Argo
Theseus
Theseus = Athens’ version of the pan-applicable Heracles.
Son of Aegeus and Poseidon.
Narrative designed to mirror the labors of Heracles.
Slayed the Minotaur (with the help of Ariadne)
Defeated the Pallantides (cousins trying to overthrow his father)
Captured the Marathonian Bull (later sacrificed to Athena)
Fought the Centaurs (at his best friend’s wedding)
Defeated the Amazons (married their queen [kidnapping?] )
Kidnapped Helen of Troy (but failed to kidnap Persephone)
He takes the villain’s MO and uses it to kill them, e.g. kills Periphetes with his own club, a form of judicial violence associated with Athens.
He kills the Minotaur, mysteriously abandons Ariadne on the island of Naxos even though she helped him escape the Labyrinth.
He marries Hippolyte, Queen of the Amazons.
Helped unify Attica under Athenian governance
Themes
Survival in Infancy
Perseus and Danae
Heracles and the Serpents
The Exposure of Oedipus
Jason survival at birth by the trick of the midwives
The Challenge
Perseus is embarrassed by Polydektes and challenged to provide Medusa’s head as a wedding gift
Heracles is a little different as his heroic cycle is built around the idea/theme of atonement and purification
Oedipus again, a little different but the episode of the Sphinx mirrors the idea of a supernatural antagonist akin to Perseus
Jason needs to justify his claim to the throne of Lolcus through the quest for the fleece - and ends up confronting a number of natural and supernatural antagonist along the way
Theseus both proves himself through his journey to Athens and to Crete (Minotaur)
Return and Kingship
Perseus, Oedipus, Jason, and Theseus all complete their quests in the service of legitimizing their claims to kingship
Theseus and Oedipus both die
Jason fails because of his complicity in the death of Pelias
Katabasis = a common motif of a hero’s descent into the underworld and eventual return to the living world
Critical Variations
Heracles and the Lionskin = Heracles and insanity
Perseus and Medusa
Why is Medusa shown as Potnia Theron
Depictions of the Sphinx suggest a specific kind of location associated with this episode
Women in Heroic Myth
Andromeda = Ethiopian princess saved by Perseus from being sacrificed by a sea monster via the use of Medusa’s head
Hesione = Daughter of the King of Troy, saved from being sacrificed to a sea monster by Heracles
Jacosta = Oedipus’s mother
Ariadne = duaghter of the King of Crete, helps Theseus slay the Minotaur only to be abandoned by him later
Medea = princess of Colchis, grandaughter of Helios, and niece of Circe, powerful sorceress, struck with Eros’ arrow and falls in love with Jason, helps him throughout his saga. Briefly marries Theseus’ father
barbarian vs greek (fear of the foreigner), female rage and revenge , witch archetype
Antigone = daughter of Oedipus, cursed by the gods for his sins, buried alive for burying her brother against the King’s mandate.
civil disobedience
gender & power
fate vs. free will
Sophocles’ message of critiquing absolute power
Andromeda and Hesione were won by their male heros as a part of completingtheir quests
Jacosta initially seems like a prize for Oedipus after deffeating the Sphinx.
Theseus’s abandoment of Ariadne is puzzling to ancient and modern audiences.
Symbolism in Monsters
Medusa = beautiful priestess of Athena who was cursed by her after being raped by Poseidon in Athena’s temple.
Perseus was sent to kill her (King thought he’s fail and die)
Athena and Hermes helped him and he suceeded
from her spilt blood spriang Pegasus and Chryasaor the giant
Perseus used her head as a weapon before giving it to Athena who put it on her shield
malevolent potnia theron
symbol of rage/survival, protective symbol that warded off evil in ancient art, represents female power/trauma/defiance in modern culture
possibly connected to mensturation
Potnia Theron = being flanked by animals
Hydra is an example of euhemerism
represents persistent evil and teamwork
euhermerism = a theory that interprets mythological accounts as exaggerated versions of real historical events or figures
Sphinx = lion’s body, woman’s head, and eagle’s wings sent by Hera/Ares to plague Thebes as punishment (fate/inevitability, the conditional nature of survival, destruction/renewal)
She posed a riddle to travelers and killed those who failed to answer correctly, making death conditional on wisdom (or lack thereof).
What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?
Oedipus is the only one to answer correctly, so she kills herself after, which marks a shift in Thebes’ fate.